Challenge of The Republic
by Leorik Sennet
Summary: This is a story written with the hopes of retaking Rasalhague back from the clans after the invasion had been halted.


::Authors Note::

This story was written before the changes in the Inner Sphere happened.

Challenge of the Republic

**Prologue**

In the years before the clan invasion plan, Leorik Sennet was just a mere Mechwarrior. He had strange bond with his fellow warriors. And they had the same with him. His clan, The Clan Diamond Shark saw potential in this. They held onto the same clan honor that the rest of the clans maintained but they also had an honor system within their ranks.

Their courage on the field of battle was exemplary. Not a single warrior had fallen to an opposing clan as a bondsman. They displayed the kind of courage that would be noteworthy in the remembrance if it were not for the fact that it was the unit displaying this and not an individual.

The Diamond Shark had been out bided in the initial stages of the assault plans for the Inner Sphere and had to sit back and wait to see if another of the invaders would fall to the lowly houses of the Inner Sphere. The clan's Keshik hoped they would get the call up to fight but knew that no clan could fall to the disorganized and inferior forces that they were about to attack.

As the invasion progressed, Leorik Sennet and his peers in the Galaxy he was in assisted in several clan disputes. Distinguishing themselves and advancing to a frontline position for the invasion, if the need arose. It was in 3050 when they were called into duty.

The ilKhan had mentioned to Comstar their plans were to take the centre of the Inner Sphere. The world occupied and protected by Comstar, Terra. Immediately Comstar withdrew their operatives from the clan controlled worlds and prepared to do battle with these invaders.

This was the chance for the Diamond Sharks to get a little piece of the Inner Sphere. They sent two galaxies to the world of Tukayyid one commanded by Galaxy commander Tamama Kalsa.

**Chapter 1**

The day began quietly, the sun rose above the horizon flashing its brilliant colors across the sky. Leorik Sennet awoke from his slumber. His day had been all laid out. The Mech Lances that were at his command had been ordered to move out in the morning to board the Dropship _Daedalus_. Their mission was to take part in an offensive against the planet Rasalhague.

His morning routine consisted of a thirty-minute workout, followed by having mess with his command. Today however the mission was superceding his routine. The _Daedalus_ was making its final preparations to depart and meet with the Jumpship _Alus_. His time was short.

Leorik went to the mess hall after taking a shower. There he saw his crew rushing to get food for the lift off. His second in command Oigres Hawker came up to him and saluted. The two of them had been friends for years. Each serving in the Clan Diamond Shark.

They were both in the Battle of Tukayyid1 against the forces of Comstar. When the clans had been defeated. They also were captured during that fight and placed as bondsmen in the hands of the resident Rasalhague forces present.

He looked around the room as he slowly walked in. Men and women were scurrying around, trying to grab a bite to eat, clean their area or just trying to get their people in gear. He made his way towards Oigres who promptly saluted him in the traditional Diamond Shark way.

"The men are almost ready to depart sir. We are liberating the mess of its food stores." He said.

"How many times must I tell you Oigres, No saluting unless the brass are around." Replied Leorik. "How many are here? We must not waste any more time. The _Daedalus_ will be taking off soon, and I want to be aboard it long before."

"Well sir, we have most on board but the vehicle crews here and our lancemates. As you can see they are now preparing to depart the hall now that they have seen you." Came Oigres's reply.

The _Daedalus_ was an older model dropship. The parts from it were gathered from the scrap yards around the varying Successor States. Like all the dropships the Republic now owned, each drop ship was retrofitted with new technology, but only what they could salvage and repair. The _Daedalus_ was no exception. The only thing it had going for it was it was intact before the retrofit and overhaul.

The remaining crews here started to rush out the door leaving the mess hall's line up free for Leorik to grab a quick bite. The walk to the dropship seemed like an eternity. His crew was already at the personnel entranceway waiting for his arrival. When Leorik got close his Sargent proceeded to call the troops to attention. As ragtag as they were, they lined up like a well-oiled machine.

Leorik walked in front of the men he commanded. Paced back and forth looking over the troops. Most of the troops gathered here belonged to the clans at one point or another, each having been taken at some point into another's service via their bondsmen ritual.

Satisfied that all were present he began to speak. "Listen up. As you are aware, we are about to put forth on a mission that will most likely claim some of our lives. But this will be a battle to free Rasalhague's forces from the Crusader faction of Clan Wolf. Our lives are to be laid out for the friends and family that some of you left behind when we clansmen invaded Fifteen years ago." Leorik paused.

"Times will show the coming days as when the Free Rasalhague Republic forces were triumphant, win or lose. Our forces will have scored a moral victory and perhaps even retake Rasalhague back from the Wolves. Now I would rather not deal with these formalities for much longer so if you would all stow your gear, we will get underway ASAP. Dismissed."

The troops picked up their bags and made their way to the dropship in an orderly manner. A few stayed back to continue to oversee the loading of the mechs, tanks, support craft, and supplies.

After the initial inspection of the dropship and the location of his men, Leorik started up to the Dropship's Bridge. The captain was sitting there smoking a pipe, while issuing pre-launch orders to his Bridge Crew. The Captain noticed the entrance of his new charge.

"Good Morning Commander. How go your preparations?" Asked the Captain.

Leorik responded. "Well Captain. This Dropship2 is not quite what I am used to but seeing as it is all that the government was able to manage for such a mission, I do thank you for the accommodations of my men. Are we ready for lift off yet? The trip to Rasalhague will be a long trip and I am eager to get to the planet and mix it up a little."

Looking around to his weary crew, the Captain paused in thought. Taking a long puff on his pipe he turned to Leorik. "Well if my men don't hurry up we'll miss the jump window. Come. Let's go to my quarters. I have some documents for you to read."

The two of them walked silently to the Captain's quarters. The name Claire Morganson was on the door. Obviously the Dropship's old captain. "Bloody Hell. Where is my nametag? As much as I like to prance around as 'Claire'" the captain said mockingly, "My wife would have a field day with this." He paused to shout to one of his officers. "ENSIGN. Get me my damn name-tag, on the double!"

The shocked ensign hurriedly replied, "Yes Sir, Captain Hayse." With that he made a quick salute then bolted to Quartermasters place.

"Help is so hard to find nowadays. Now please. After you" Captain Hayse opened the hatch to his quarters and the two of them walked in.

The room was larger than the rest of the quarters on the dropship but it was also in more shambles than most. The bed was littered with Boxes of paperwork, photos, clothing and more junk than one could imagine. The desk area had files in a nice and orderly pile but it too was cluttered with forms and the likes. The Captain had obviously not had any time to unpack.

He went to the table situated on the left side of the room. That was the only place in the room, it seemed, that was uncluttered. On the table was the planet of Rasalhague and it's main continent. The captain had a miniature dropship located near one of one of the smaller factory communities.

"This is the drop zone. Now the way I see it is this. If we go in there then there is no way in Hell that we'll ever see the light of day again. But Command says to go here. Now what I was thinking was this." Captain Hayse pointed to a small spot on the map. "This here was the old Training grounds for some of our forces, and from what we know, the Wolves have turned it into a Base for the area. If we strike in this area, we might be able to secure this base and start out from there. Your thoughts?"

Leorik was amazed that the Captain would go against commands' original strike plan and also involve him in the process.

"Captain, Command wants you to drop in this location, not over here. It would be foolish to ignore their wishes and drop in a different location. Disobeying a direct order is not the way to further your career."

Captain Hayse stared at Leorik. "You think," he started, "that my goal here is to further my career? Listen up. My job is to make sure that the men on this Dropship survive long enough to get home. That means you and your Mech Jocks. So don't think that this is a personal agenda. Once we get to Rasalhague I decide where we drop. This is not your Clan any more, rules are meant to be broken. Besides I do not tell you how to command and place your forces when you are on the ground. So don't proceed to tell me where to place my ship."

Captain Hayse recomposed himself and turned to the map. "Now as I said, we are dropping here. Do what you want but the best thing for us to do, in my opinion, is to take this base, then move out wards. You could get some decent salvage as well."

Leorik was taken aback by this retort. His usual belief was just as the captain had assumed. In the clan one would drop where they were told, and not deviate from that location. The only exception was an unavoidable course change due to the conditions during a battle.

"Hmmm, perhaps you are correct. Maybe this Drop zone is workable. I do apologize, I am still trying to get used to the way people think in the Inner Sphere. I am not used to the extra value that is placed on the lives of the men and women within military units."

"No worries Commander, you'll get used to us in time." Returned the captain. "Now let's just get this show on the road. As I said before, the best spot would be to attack in this area, we should try to take the base and as much of this supply depot here, as humanly possible."

The two of them continued to discuss their plans for then next few hours.

Across the Ship the tech crews were busying themselves with their tasks at hand, securing the massive war machines was almost completely finished when the XO of the Company walked in.

He, just like his Commanding officer, came to the Rasalhague Republic as a bondsman when their star was attacked in the battle for Rasalhague. They were the only two clan Pilots to have survived the attack against their star and thus had offered themselves as bondsmen. That was fifteen years ago.

Now he was doing the last minute check-ups of the gear. Everything had to be done in the allotted time frame before they left and that window was quickly beginning to shrink.

"Hey Lieutenant!" one of the technicians hollered, "When is the boss man going to inspect the Mech bays here?"

"I am taking care of that service for him today free.." He paused to catch himself, "Corporal Jenkins. How is everything here? We do not need the Mechs to fall on any one."

"Everything is fine sir, we have the Uller and the Wolfhound left to secure down, and then we'll be ready to lift off."

Oigres was satisfied that the crews had everything handled and preceded to head down to his quarters to wait out the launch. On his way there he ran into Commander Sennet as he was heading out from the captains quarters.

"Ah Commander, I take it that the meeting you had with our dropship captain went well?" He asked.

"Yes, but the ways of the Inner sphere are still mind boggling. The Captain was complaining about our initial drop site, but apart from that we managed to hash out a battle plan. I want Alpha lance3 ready for an orbital drop upon arrival. We need to equip the non-jumpers with jump packs and land weapons free. We need this to flow smoothly."

Oigres nodded his head in agreement. "Commander with that being said I think that we should get to our positions on the bridge. Just to make sure that everything goes smoothly."

The two clansmen moved through the dropship towards the bridge keeping silent all the way. Upon entering the bridge Leorik spoke.

"Captain, we are ready to get under way. All of our Mechs are locked down, and our gear is stowed away. If you do not mind, we would be most appreciative if we can get the mission started now." Leorik directed at the Captain.

"Very well, the Jumpship is awaiting our arrival. Boys, let's take her up."

Chapter 2 

The world of Rasalhague had seen plenty of strife in its time. The continued clashes between Kurita and Steiner saw to that. Then just when they got their independence their world was turned upside down. The Clans invaded and the Inner Sphere was at a loss as to this new invader.

There were minor victories for the Houses of the Inner Sphere but the clans still came forward. The only victory that Rasalhague saw was when Tyra Miraborg crashed her Shilone into the bridge of the flagship for the clans causing a brief stay of execution for the forces in the Inner Sphere.

The taking of Rasalhague by Clan Wolf was a serious blow to the morale of the Rasalhague forces. However the momentum of the clans were halted with one swift assault. The defense of the Inner Sphere, mostly of Terra, by Comstar on Tukayyid did not even help the Rasalhague cause. Comstar felt obligated to assist the weakened House, yet the Rasalhague Republic felt that Comstar could have, if not should have taken back their capital world.

The assault on Rasalhague devised by the Rasalhague government was all done in secrecy due to the Conditions that the new Star League Defense Forces managed to impose upon the Clan Invaders. Rasalhague, while participating in these fights, hated the New Star Lord's decision to abide by the conditions of the victory over the Clans.

Thus the ruling body of Rasalhague had met in secret. They began plans to formulate an operation for the freedom of their people. The ruling body of Rasalhague voted to retake their capital world back with a resounding ninety-nine percentage of the votes. In turn they also voted in the usage of their captured clan bondsmen to head this assault with yet another resounding majority.

Part of the first wave would consist of sending in a full two lances made up purely of Clansmen. The selection of this was tedious and upon finding out it caused some stir within the new Star League. The Rasalhague forces did not have enough Clansmen to support this but they made deals with their old houses of Steiner and Kurita for some of their bondsmen to bolster their ranks.

These Warriors were to comprise the two lances of Clan warriors and they were even allowed to use their own clan Mechs for the assault. The Rasalhague Republic's hopes were that the Wolf garrison forces, more specifically the Crusader Wolves Forces, would not be geared for either a continued attack inwards or any possible defense of the world. Thus the hope was to take it swiftly and quickly as to not give the wolves any time to strike back.

A bold move indeed but one that would also place the entire remnants of the FRR forces in this single planetary assault. If they succeeded they would get their home world back, if they failed then the Crusader Wolves would most likely continue their conquest of the FRR.

The fear of failure did not matter to the Clansmen brought into the fight for the Rasalhague forces. The Rasalhague regulars, the men and women that made their home in the Republic, they actually depended on a victory for with out it, there could only be more devastation.

The assault force was not going allow the wolf clan the luxury of their prized batchall. They just planned on going to assault the planet with everything at their disposal. Laying waste to everything but the cities that the clans tainted. No clan warrior would be allowed to leave the planet until the end of the war or unless they were in a body bag.

The initial invasion of the republic by the clans had proven that the Republic's forces did not stand a chance. The republic forces had tried but did not make a dent in the Clans upon their initial arrival but now they had Seasoned warriors, both ex-bondsmen and their own frontline warriors. This time it was going to be a do or die fight.

Chapter 3 

There were only two Jumpships in orbit around the deep space armory that the Rasalhague Republic had initially setup when they broke away from both House Kurita and House Steiner. Only one week into the battle plans for the new offensive against Clan Wolf. Now within the last twenty-four hours before the final jump into the Rasalhague star system there were five Jump ships. With a full compliment of battlemechs each.

The armory's supplies were nearly exhausted within the final hours before the assault. Each dropship captain grabbing everything they could, to fill their own dropship stores.

Technician Eracer, one of the few techs that came with Leorik, began to take inventory of their gear. While he was doing this Leorik entered the hanger bay.

"Ahh Eracer, I see that you are busy at work."

"Aff Commander Leorik. Although I really wish I could be lazing around with you and the rest of the warriors under your command." Replied Eracer. "These freebirth technicians that I have been assigned think of me as one of them. If only they knew. " he gave a little chuckle at that.

"True enough my friend. That is why we have you in disguise as a tech. Do not worry, we will get you a Mech to pilot in time. It is a shame that your Warhawk4 fell so hard on Tukayyid. I truly wish that the Comgaurds that overlooked you had been crushed by you just like Aidan Pryde crushed so many of them."

"True. Chances are that his glory must have been placed into the remembrance. Now we are all set here Commander. The Jumpship should leave if we are to get things on track."

"Neg my friend," Replied Leorik, "we must wait until the others have filled their supply holds. You however should go rest up. You look beat"

Leorik moved out of the bay, leaving Eracer to his musings. Eracer was once a Star Captain in the Clan Diamond Shark. He was fierce behind the controls any Mech, but chose to pilot the assault class Warhawk on the day of the Tukayyid fight.

Eracer was one of the few casualties that day, but he also was one of the few that managed to escape from the Comgaurd teams. He fought fiercely to get back to the Dropship to get off the planet but was taken down by a group of Republic soldiers that were running a training exercise that he had inadvertently stumbled in upon.

He was so badly injured at that time that Leorik, upon recognizing him, told the Republic soldiers, based on Eracers' abilities, that he was a mere tech in training and that the uniform of a Mechwarrior of Clan Diamond Shark, had to be a simple ruse.

He came into service with Leorik the day that the Rasalhague Soldier that Leorik was bound to perished in a skirmish with Kuritan5 raiders. His skills as a tech had improved over the years, but he secretly longed for the feel of a battlemech beneath him.

The friendship that had developed between him and Leorik soon allowed him the luxury of piloting Leorik's Timberwolf6 on Training fields even if it was just for a few minutes.

Eracer was brought back from his musings when the Jumpship Captain announced that they were departing the orbit of the station to take up a jump position with the others to begin the last leg of the trip to Rasalhague.

Else where in the dropship the crews sprang to life. Preparing the dropship for the final leg of the journey. Saying their last goodbyes to their families via vid-feed before they embarked on the mission ahead.

The Captain addressed the crew one last time before the Jumpship and the other four Jumpships sped off towards Rasalhague in a gigantic flash of energy.

Chapter 4 

On Rasalhague, Star Commander Kae surveyed the City of Klausburg. The city had been reconstructed to conform to Clan standards ever since the Wolves occupied the planet. Some areas had been torn down to make way for the newly erected star port and Battlemech facility.

It was here that Star Commander Kae was heading, her Star Colonel had ordered an inspection of the facilities and she was assigned to the task. She disliked the arduous tasks that always fell on to her shoulders by her Star Colonel, but never the less she did them with all the pride of a clansman.

It was an early morning inspection of the Star Port and she arrived there just in time to witness the newest compliment of Wolf warriors to arrive on Rasalhague.

'What is up with the high command,' thought Kae, 'new warriors here is not needed.'

"You there!" Kae shouted, "Yes you Astech. Where is the filth that runs this facility?"

The stunned technician nearly tripped over his tools at the sound of Kae's voice. But he nodded in the direction of the Chief Technician.

"I would appreciate it if you would address my techs with a lil more courtesy Mechwarrior. After all, who knows when you'll piss off the wrong tech. What do I owe the pleasure of this visit though?" asked the chief tech.

"You are brave tech to be asking me what I want. I should beat some sense in to you right here and now but" Kae was interrupted by the tech.

"Listen Lady, I don't care who you think you are, but you don't come into my facility and start throwing your weight around. Now get to the point or get the hell out. Rasalhague has suffered enough at the hands of your Clan." retorted the tech.

Kae let out a low growl then headed towards the technician. "You think that standing up to a trueborn is worth your life? I think not freebirth your skills as a tech are truly impressive but the Clan can find more able-bodied techs in back on our home worlds. I have come here to inspect this slop of a tech facility, and you will comply with my wishes." She scowled at the technician. "Now you will first tell me your filthy Freebirth name and then address me as Star Commander Kae from now on."

"Well, Star Commander Kae, my name is unimportant to you as long as you get your job done." Replied the tech. "But I can see that you are about to end my life and thus I will comply with your wishes. My name is Aaron, and you'll not address me like that again. After all I am the tech in charge here and this is my battlefield."

Kae could not believe her ears. This tech was blatantly defying her authority. She made a mental note about his behavior and continued onwards.

"These Mech bays will be filled to capacity or more in the next few days, tech Aaron. There is a newly arrived drop ship of Clan Wolf Mechs and they will need to be double checked before they are to be assigned to their respective bases. I want you to begin to arrange the necessary space to hold them. Are you listening to me?" Kae said when she noticed his lack of response to her words. "Tech Aaron look at me now"

"Sorry Star Commander, but it seems that this dropship will not be needing their Mechs to be deployed here. Looks like you forgot to look at their insignia." Aaron pointed at the dropship and showed her the Comstar Insignia on the dropship's hull. "Seems like Comstar is back again. They must be rotating their shifts again."

Kae looked at the dropship with a puzzled look on her face. "Comstar never uses our base here to drop in troops for rotations. Forget the inspection, I will pass you for now. But I will be back."

With that Kae left the Facility and headed out towards the landing bays leaving Aaron with a sly smile on his unshaven face.

Chapter 5 

The Rasalhague forces were nearing the arrival time for their assault on Rasalhague it self. They were told to wait for the signal from one of the Adepts of the Comgaurds to transmit the ok that the hyperpulse generators had the clans preoccupied. The signal to attack would be brief and they were to assault quickly as to minimize their potential losses.

The Jumpship captains had all jumped into the Rasalhague system undetected, using a prearranged strategy of timing their jumps to be correlated to the arrival of the Comgaurd Jumpships.

The timing was right, everyone in the Rasalhague forces felt it. All that remained was to wait for the call from their Comgaurd operative.

Leorik was perched on top of his battlemech waiting the inevitable call to arms. The waiting was nerve wracking on the clansmen assembled in the dropship hanger bay. They were used to immediate assaults, not the cat and mouse games of their Inner Sphere counterparts.

"Commander," one of them called out. A warrior by the name of Moon. "These tactics of sitting back and waiting, biding our time if you will, are not becoming of a clan warrior. Can we not do something now?"

"What would you have us do?" Retorted Eracer, "Attack now and cause the full and complete devastation of what remains of the Rasalhague forces?? Remember we are now warriors in their service."

This began a heated argument that started to involve every warrior in the hanger bay. The tension level continued to rise until it became clear that some one would need to step in.

"Gentlemen. Listen up. This bickering is unbecoming of warriors. This is more for the Merchants or Politicians to be arguing like Freeborn Children. I promise you all that the end of the wait will come soon. I just can not say when." Leorik calmly said. "Until then we must wait. I would suggest that we use this time to better our skills as a member of this dropship's crew."

With that Leorik stood up on his mech. He took a look around before he started off the mech to the walkway at the mechs shoulder level. He then started down the stairs to the hanger floor.

"Ok, listen up. We are gong to clean this hanger up and then move out into the rest of the ship. We will start where we finished off the day before and repeat this until we are given the go to drop."

But before they could start the warning Klaxons went off. The bridge crew began to issue commands to the hanger bays to prepare for a hot drop.

Leorik moved to the intercom to get a situation report.

"Hanger bay to bridge this is Commander Leorik. What is going on?" He asked.

The response was a little slow in coming but when it did come the captain was the one to return the call. "Commander, it seems like the Comstar dropship was searched and the spy did not dispose of the records of our coming. The Comstar Commanders from their Jumpship just informed us that the Wolves destroyed their drop ship and would like to be involved in this attack. We are negotiating that with them now."

"Hmmm ok then my men will drop in on our target zone now. When ever you are ready to start this we are good to go." He then turned to his warriors.

"Warriors of the Clan Guard. We are about to perform a hot drop down to the planet's surface. All jump capable mechs will be the first to go and they will secure us a landing zone. Resistance forces may try to intervene if they do you are to do something un-clanlike and that would be to hide until we are ready to land. No unnecessary actions will be allowed and any that are made that jeopardizes this mission or our fellow soldiers will be met with in a circle of equals with me in a fight to the death." Leorik paused to look over his troops.

When he was satisfied that all was well he took a deep breath and continued. "Now what we are about to do will be to land hard take our zone and get the job done."

He then gave the command for all his jump capable mech pilots to suit up and prepare for a high orbit deployment then he went about securing the rest of the mechs in their protective cocoons and to make sure all the ammunition stores were locked down tight.

They felt the ship rock as it undocked from the Jumpships' moorings A few of the non-clansmen were standing at the portholes watching the surface of their capital move closer to the ship. Leorik walked over to watch the view as well and to also get a bigger picture of what the aerospace pilots could expect for resistance.

Out the portal there were signs of battle as unseen fighters blossomed into a red fireball in the darkness of space. Tracer rounds flared out every now and then from the gun ports on the Jumpships, dropships and the Aerospace fighters. The sound of battle was added in each man's head as they saw a new fireball or a barrage of gunfire.

Minutes passed before the first shots were taken at the dropship. Each shot causing the ship to shake. The ship felt like it was flying through turbulence, being jostled around like a rag doll, but some how the drop ship made it to the outer atmospheric layer of Rasalhague.

The crews worked furiously to prepare for the high orbit drop. Each Mechwarrior settled into their mechs. The jumpers waited for the clearance to begin their drop while those with out jump capable mechs suited up and prepared for their assault.

Chapter 6 

The Search of the Comstar Dropship was merely a routine inspection but the Wolf commander did not expect to find what she found. One of the Comgaurd adepts had notes regarding a potential attack on the Rasalhague world by the Free Rasalhague Republic.

Kae immediately called this information into Star Colonel Logan. Upon hearing this news he immediately took the crew of the drop ship into custody and ordered it's destruction as to prove a point to the rest of Comstar that this behavior was not going to be tolerated.

Kae was then immediately ordered to send this information to a base in the northern sector of Rasalhague's main continent. The base had been doing some retrofits on their communications systems and would not get the call to arms when the rest of the Wolf clan did.

Kae took her star into the dropship Kitimar. The trip would take a mere hour before they arrived. Then they would make the return trip back to the Starport after she informed the commander of the Northern Sector. At least that was the plan.

Enroute to the northern territories the dropship pilots spotted five mechs making landfall. They passed this info off to Kae and then proceeded to perform a scan for any enemy dropships. In less than one minute they spotted an inbound dropship and immediately called Kae up to discuss a plan of action.

"Star Commander Kae, we have a situation. The Northern Sector will be unable to defend it self from these aggressors unless we do something."

"Pilot your job is to take us to the base. Then we will inform the Commander of the situation that is upon him. If they need us then they will ask for our assistance until then we have a specific job at hand" Came Kae's reply. "Now continue on track and get us to the base."

The dropship then increased its speed and headed off to warn the base of the immediate and worldwide threats. Upon landing Kae issued out an order to her star.

"As you all know we are not Officially in charge here in this sector, however there were some battlemechs that made planetfall while we were Enroute here. My goal is to ensure that we can take part in crushing these Inner Sphere Stravags where they landed. Until then you will remain here."

With that she left the rest of her star to their own devices and proceeded towards the Commander's office. The base was in disarray, not because of a lack of care but because there was so much work that was being done at once that it took up almost all of the base's space.

The clutter made the walk a little slow to get to the office but eventually Kae managed to make it there. She did not even knock to enter the room.

"Commander we have a situation on the planet that we need to report to you." She cried out as she walked in.

The commander was busy getting some of his subordinates their command orders when Kae barged in. He looked slowly up at her and upon noticing her rank of Star Commander gave her a look of disgust.

"Star Commander. Barging in like this is very unbecoming. Add to the fact that you did not even give us a courtesy call on our shortwave communications system shows a serious lack of respect for the chain of command." He calmly said.

"Begging your pardon but I am here not to appease you I am merely here to deliver a message from Headquarters." She replied.

"Very well deliver your message and then let me and my people get back to fixing this base up."

Kae looked at the base commander, then at his subordinates and finally she broke her silence. "Commander. We are under attack by the Free Rasalhague Republic They have landed all over the planet and are currently assaulting any and all bases that they can take."

She was interrupted at that point. "Star Commander, please. The forces of the Republic could not hold up against us eight years ago, what makes you so sure that they pose a threat now?"

"I believe that their attacks have caught us when we are weak. They have had some inside information and they knew that we were under manned here for the garrison of the planet. They did not batchall us and they have landed with more than enough mechs to make this a fight that we cannot possibly win" she returned. Her anger starting to show.

"Tsk tsk. Do I detect a hint of anger in your voice? We will assist the main garrison forces in due time." This time it was he that was cut off.

"Sir there is a force of mechs landing, if not landed already, a mere four hours out from this base. They will no doubt be launching an attack on us in the next few hours."

"Very Well. Go take care of them, and report their strength back to me as soon as you can. Dismissed"

With that he waved his hand at her and then returned to his own agenda.

Satisfied with getting the go ahead to attack the FRR forces Kae returned to her dropship to report the news to her men.

Chapter 7 

The decent was bumpy. The dropship had not shown signs of damage until they began to hit the thicker atmosphere. The jump capable mechs manage to land safely and also report that they saw a drop ship moving into the area that they were to assault. They also reported that there was an infantry squad on training maneuvers in their drop location that they dispatched.

The dropship managed to land safely and the mechs were unloaded. Each one disembarked and took up a defensive perimeter around the giant egg shaped Dropship. The _Daedalus_ crews were busy setting up a temporary headquarters on the ground and were also setting up the various triage and mech repair facilities in the clearing.

Leorik started his mech forward out of the dropship. His Kyoken groaning from the inactivity over the last two months. He turned on his communication systems and began to gather the reports from his troops.

"Commander Leorik, this is Lieutenant Moon. I will try to make this report as brief as I can." Started the Lieutenant. "Apparently the infantry that we dispatched were Free Rasalhague Rebels. Their wounded are currently being tended to. Now for the bad news. We are pretty sure that the Wolves spotted us. A Wolf dropship flew past us as we were landing. They made a brief deviance off their course. Which incidentally, is towards the Wolf base that we are heading to as well."

"Hmm, do you think they will be back? Did it seem as if they were going to go and gather troops?" Leorik inquired.

"Perhaps they will be back. It has been my experience that they do tend to attack any detachment that they do spot. Perhaps they were under strength and went for some reinforcements."

Leorik also had similar thoughts as Moon. They both had seen a lot of action in the Pentagon worlds with the Wolves that they both knew the answer even before the question was asked.

Returning to the Lieutenant Leorik responded, "My thoughts exactly. Anything else to report at this time Moon?"

"Neg Sir. We have the perimeter established and await the command to begin the attack"

"Very well. Carry on and continue your patrols. I will notify you all when High Command says we are good to go."

With that Leorik moved his mech to the section of the clearing where the mechs were using as their hangars. Leaving the mech in the hands of his Chief technician Eracer, he then started out towards the center of the mobile camp. He was heading to the Com-Stat tent that they were to use until the mobile Headquarters were deployed on planet side.

He entered the tent and took a moment to gather his things. The tent was in shambles as everything were hastily being set up. He sighed as he found that some one was considerate enough to set up the coffee station and he made him self a cup. One of the few habits he developed during his time within the Rasalhague military structure.

Once he was ready he turned on the Com-Stat and plugged in his first security code to start the transmission. He waited for a few minutes before the monitor flared to life with the High Command viewing area. There on the screen, was the Planetary Assault General and some of his command staff. There were also the commanders of a few of the other drop forces.

Leorik saluted the General and began to report in. "Commander Leorik Reporting in Sir" he said.

"Greetings Commander Sennet. I know that you are not used to using your Blood name any more but in this army if you do have a last name," the general emphasized that comment, "we do expect that you would use it. However I know it will take you a while to adjust."

The General was the one with whom Leorik had been bonded to. He showed a great deal of compassion for all soldiers that he encountered. The general looked down at his notes and put up a finger to signal to Leorik and the others to hold for a moment.

A moment or two later he looked up at his paperwork and sighed. "Things look grim on the southern front Gentlemen. Seems that we underestimated the strengths of the enemy on the southern continents. Our forces can probably hold out against them but we need you to finish the assaults in the north as Quickly as you can. Leorik your forces are the only all Clan units that we have. You must not hesitate to call in for any reinforcements. We are a cohesive military and there is no shame if you need help to finish your task. Understood?"

"Quiaff General. My forces and I will not need the help but if we do we will ask."

"Good. Captain Hawthorne your forces will be the weakest. Your dropship command was hit on the way down. It crashed about one hundred miles away from your landing zone and thus you will need to resupply from any stores you can get on planetside. This being said I want you to perform a feint towards your target and then veer away to hook up with either Leorik's unit or Commander Francis's unit. Either way you will be in command of your unit only and whomever you move towards will maintain in command of the sector. We are trying to get you a replacement for your command staff."

"Roger that. Sir if I may be frank. Either unit will be displaced if my men show up there. The supplies that we have here can last us for only so long and each attack force had two dropships of supplies. Our dropship took heavy damage and we cannot move it far. Commander Francis has already informed us of heavy fighting there. I think we will hook up with Commander Sennet's forces but it will take us a few hours to get there. If you manage to secure us a new command staff route them to his location." Came Hawthorne's response. "Leorik You and your men do your worst and we'll be on your doorstep in a couple of hours to cover your back"

"Roger we will inform our command here."

The rest of the conversation took two hours as they discussed revised plans of attack and how salvage was to be used. Hawthorne signed off early to get his men in motion while Leorik and Francis stayed on to get their orders from the general.

When the Com-Stat meeting was over Leorik sauntered out to his command staff to pass on the information. Captain Hayse was saddened to hear of the loss of at least one dropship and he had the command hold a moment of silence. Then he went back to his duties. Leorik headed off to his Mech to begin the preparations for his assault.

Chapter 8 

Moon took off after a Fire Moth that he had caught on a lone patrol. Moon's mech being nowhere near as fast as the flighty Fire Moth he did have the advantage of his ranged weaponry.

His lance was in hot pursuit of him as well but was ordered to stay out of the fight. The Kyoken was an agile mech and it could pack a wallop. Moon let loose with a volley of ATM's at the Fire Moth. Scoring a direct hit on the left leg. The Fire Moth staggered for a moment but quickly recovered. It started to pour on the speed when it suddenly came to a crashing halt. The mech had slammed to the ground hard and was rolling end over end.

Moon thought that his hit was not that hard of a shot. A quick realization had overcome him. The Fire Moth usually is equipped with the MASC7 system. As he approached the fallen mech he could see the Mechwarrior inside it desperately trying to get his mech to respond. Moon issued a challenge over the external speaker system.

"Mechwarrior. You have no chance for survival. Surrender yourself to me and be taken as my bondsman. There is no need for us to continue as it is obvious that you mech has sustained severe damage to its MASC system." He paused to see what the warrior did.

As he predicted the warrior inside the fallen Fire Moth powered down his unit and stepped out of the unit.

"I do not expect that you will hold to your word Freebirth." Then he paused as he saw the Diamond Shark logo displayed beside the Rasalhague Republic's. "What manner of freebirth are you to disgrace the name of the Diamond Shark by displaying its totem on your mech?"

Through out the insults Moon grimaced and bit his lip to keep from blasting the warrior where he stood. Calmly he replied. "I am Commander Moon of the Rasalhague defense force, formerly of the clan Diamond Shark. You will never address me as Freebirth again or I shall take you to a circle of equals. This house does not approve of it but they also have not stopped us from utilizing it, is that understood?"

The warrior replied. Just as the rest of Moon's scout forces arrived on the scene. Moon turned to the lance and immediately ordered them to secure the Fire Moth and the area. With that he sent off word to base camp about the encounter.

"The enemy mech was alone as far as we could tell. It was a Fire Moth that had its MASC system freeze up on it. We could use a salvage truck out this way. We are approximately five clicks east of the camp." He paused. "We will continue our surveillance of the area to make sure no other unit is around."

"Good work Commander. We will be waiting for your return." Leorik returned. "The trucks will be enroute A.S.A.P."

Returning to his men he ordered them to stay put while they waited for the salvage crews. Moon had waited for four years for his chance to get back into the fight. He was a little disappointed by the outcome of the skirmish with the wolf warrior.

That was why he did not notice the blip on his mech's radar. He became too lax in the waiting for the salvage crews. His mech was rocked by missile fire, and Moon fought against the explosions and almost did not keep his mech upright. The damage was minimal but never the less he became aware of any and all damage that he took.

His Lance also had taken hits. The enemy had stayed out of range of their radar well and it was clear that they were going to be upon them in a matter of minutes.

Moon radioed back to the base "We are under attack and the mechs assailing us are currently unknown. We are abandoning our position and will make a beeline to the base" He cringed as several Trees around him bore the brunt of a massive shot. Gauss rifle rounds would be the most likely explanation.

He quickly issued the retreat command and fired a volley into the Firemoth's leg to keep the enemy from moving it away from the area. With that he let fly his jump thrusters and proceeded to get airborne to gather Intel on their attackers.

He spun around quickly, and spotted a Star of Battlemechs. It was made up of one Medium and four Heavy mechs. Which was more than a match for his scout lance. When he landed he reissued the command to retreat. This time he ordered them to move at each unit's top speed. It meant that there was a slim possibility of leaving stragglers, but it also meant a greater chance of survivability.

He gunned his mech forward and activated the built in MASC system. Throttling him ahead of the slower moving machines. The MASC System could have proved faulty just like it did in the Fire Moth. Thankfully his luck was better than the wolf pilot.

The four machines of Viper Lance, the name they were given, tore through the woodlands area that they were in to emerge out in the open. The units came to a sudden grinding halt. The ground shook as their combined mass came to an abrupt stop. The pause in their flight was a lucky move. Ordinance from the chasing mechs landed solidly in front of them barely scorching the units.

Moon looked over his navigation system and realized that in their haste they made a wrong turn and headed west instead of south. He quickly ordered his command into the near by town that he spotted. The preliminary scans of the area when they dropped in showed a few old style hanger bays that they could hide in.

"Moon to Commander Sennet come in please. We have a situation here. We have been forced away from the main force, and will be taking shelter in a small city. We don't know how long we can hold out but we will do our best."

The answer that came back was all full of static. Moon could not understand a word that was said. Al he hoped was that his transmission made it through to the base camp. With that he cranked open his throttle and sped towards the town, issuing the order to stay close, to those under his command.

The four units crashed the town like teenagers crashing a party. They came in suddenly and with out warning. The townsfolk did their best to get out of the way of the streaking mechs. A few missiles slammed into the town. PPC shots and Laser fire tore through the buildings. Fires started to burn brightly as the buildings themselves exploded from the enemy weaponry.

Moon's youngest pilot veered away from the main pack. His Pixie Prime was the only unit that stood a chance to escape the oncoming Wolf Clan battle mechs.

"Alexander to Commander Moon. I will try to divert their fire as long as my mech can. I will try to meet up with the rest of the lance in Five minutes." With that he cut off communications and virtually vanished into the small town. Using the buildings as cover. It was a small town but it had enough tall buildings that he could be hidden amongst them.

Moon and the rest of the lace continued onward and issued a silent good luck to Alexander. Knowing that Alexander was merely doing what his upbringing dictated. Originally from an Elemental sibko, he was a brave and sometimes daring man. With their need of pilots for this assault, he was given a crash course on combat within a Battlemech to fill the gap in Leorik's Company.

He proved to be as good in a Battlemech as he was in an Elemental suit. Waiting patiently for the enemy mechs to come into town, he hid behind a warehouse. He waited for what seemed like an eternity but eventually he saw a Nova pass by him. He took the opportunity to then pounce. Springing like one of the Smoke Jaguars he leaped into action. All the enemy mechs saw was a quick Blip on their radar and then the Nova went up in flames.

Alexander swung the torso of the Pixie at the back of the Nova and unleashed its Ten ER Small lasers into the back of the Nova. The ensuing fireball showed that he hit the engine and it went up like fireworks.

He made one pass in front of the Timberwolf and let loose a volley of shots on it barely scorching the mech's armor. The Timberwolf also managed to get two shots off at the Pixie. Both the large lasers hit the torso of the weaker Pixie, but the mechs weaponry failed to penetrate any vital area of the Pixie. With that Alexander left the area.

Chapter 9 

The message of the attack came in Loud and clear. The Town of Lunsford was under attack. The civil defenses had been stripped down to nothing when the Wolves invaded. The chatter across the many radio stations of the area had reported that a Lance of mechs had charged on into the town followed by a Clan star of mechs.

Leorik listened to the radio communications trying to desperately find out what had happened to his warriors. Their last communication came in garbled but he received enough of the transmission to realize that his men were trapped in the town Southwest of the base camp. The entire Company and support men and women, even the dropship crewmen had spotted the fires starting to burn in the town.

The unit could not afford to take any risks with their machines. Having possibly lost the Recon lance to a Star of mechs, Leorik opted to play it safe and keep the remainder of his forces put.

One of the communication techs came to his tent. Leorik waved him away but the tech stayed. Insisting that he had important news. Five minutes of listening to the news had not even forced him out

"Ok. Seeing as I cannot get rid of you. What is it that you have for me?" Asked Leorik.

"Sir. I know that you hope that the Recon lance makes it back and all but they will not do it with out help." Spoke the tech.

"Yes. Tell me something that I do not know already." Barked Leorik, already starting to get irritated by the turn of events.

Taking a deep breath and clearing his throat the tech replied, "Well sir. We have good news. Commander Hawthorne's forces are less than Forty minutes away from the town that Moon and his forces are in. They have been listening to the broadcasts as well as us and have sent an encoded message to us."

The techie looked at Leorik waiting for a response. All that Leorik did was look at him and nodded for him to continue the report.

"The dropship _Centurion _has offered to send out two of their Mech busters and they will also drop Hawthorne's unit as close to Moon's unit as humanly possible"

Leorik looked over at the radio. The newsmen had reported a Dropship sighting in the horizon. _So it's true then. _Leorik thought._ Hawthorne you are an Inner Sphere freebirth but I am glad that you are on my side._

"Alright. Give them the go. I want that town saved and as little damage done to our forces." He nodded at the techie who turned out of the tent.

Aboard the _Centurion_ Hawthorne and his men began to suit up for combat. They had no doubt in their mind that their mechs would be called in to assist Leorik's stranded recon forces.

The drop ship had made an emergency stop to fix one of it's port engines along the way other wise it would never have been in any position to assist the four mechs. Hawthorne had cursed his luck at that time but now he was praising it.

The dropship captain's voice boomed out on the speakers system. "Alpha Flight One and Two prepare for immediate launch. Mech lances we are go for extraction. Your deployment will be enroute to your onboard computers. All Dropship Gunners prepare to bombard anything that veers our way"

The message repeated it self over again two more times. During this time Hawthorne knew that the message had reached Leorik.

"Ok Ladies. Saddle up. We have us some Wolves to hunt this morning. Let's bloody their misbegotten noses. Lets devastate their mechs. As you are all aware, we'll not have any room on board for any amount of salvage. Remember, this is for Rasalhague. Lets put a few more clanners in body bags!" He shouted. With the final words out of his mouth the hangar area erupted with cheers.

Then the hangar shook as the two Mech Buster aerofighters took off and blazed off into the sky. As soon as they had cleared the drop ship, every one felt it take a sudden dive. The Mechwarriors all jumped into their mechs to prepare for a low level drop.

Medical crews also sat on standby for the ship would continue downwards to the ground to assist with any injuries and to help with the fires in town.

One by one the pilots were given the go to disembark. They loaded themselves onto the drop racks and out the side of the Dropship they went. The first to drop was Hawthorne and his XO in their captured clan mechs. Then out came one of the Republics newly redesigned heavier versions of the Urbanmech and an upgraded Phoenix Hawk.

As they descended to the surface they saw the ruins of a mech blazing in the streets of the city. Of the enemy mechs they only saw four and Hawthorne quickly realized that one of their lighter mechs must have been gunned down by Moon or his warriors.

Hawthorne saw his friendly flyboys perform several strafing runs over the city, their auto cannons blazing away as the sun was going down. The enemy mechs were still not in their sights, and he could almost feel them waiting for the lance to land.

Flicking the switch to get on Leorik's bandwidth, Hawthorne made an attempt to contact Commander Moon. "This is Captain Hawthorne to Commander Moon. Come in Moon." He waited for a reply, which was quick in coming.

"Moon here. I must say I am not used to hiding from an enemy much less being rescued either." Moon paused. "But in this circumstance I will not turn aside any help that you can provide."

Hawthorne smiled at that. "Must be hard for you to be thanking a Freebirth then I take it. We will be upon the town in approximately one minute." He grunted as he said the final part of that statement, his mech came down hard on the ground and he cursed himself for not having a Jump Jet equipped mech.

The others of his lance made the landing with ease. The sound of the mechs landing did not go unnoticed though. The clan mechs had turned as the new threats appeared.

"This is Star Commander Kae. You freebirths are violating the Peace treaty set aside by the Tukayyid Accord. We hear by do not offer you the traditional rights of battle that we as clansmen usually offer. Surrender now and we will be lenient"

_Can she be serious? _Thought Hawthorne. "This is Captain Hawthorne of the First Rasalhague Regulars. We are here to liberate our home world. You're threats are meaningless to us." He paused then switched channels for his men only. "Prepare yourselves. We're in for a fight."

The first mech to step out of the center of the town was the Stormcrow. It came out firing its' missiles at the Phoenix Hawk. The Hawk pilot engaged his jump jets at the last minute to avoid most of the volley but still took a few hits to his legs. Then it fired its' large laser at the Stormcrow. Scorching the torso but not doing any serious amount of damage.

It was the Thor that tore into the Stormcrow. It hit will all of its weapons tearing through the ammo bin of the enemy mech and sending it crumpling to the ground. **note. Insert weapons fire with exact weaponry**

Out came the rest of the clan Wolf mechs. The Timber wolf let loose a volley of missiles at the Phoenix hawk and hit it with it's twin ER Large Lasers the Phoenix Hawk fell silent as it slammed to the ground

The two Maddogs that were in the star then came out and opened up upon Hawthorne's Timberwolf. One of the Maddogs had Gauss Rifles. It 's shots both missed and took out the radio tower to one of the local news station. The other Maddog managed to get a volley of LRM's into the side of Hawthorne's Timberwolf. Be fore he could react to this attack the Urbanmech walked forward towards the gauss rifle Maddog. The Clan mechs were leaving it alone, just like the designers thought.

Hawthorne pulled back for a moment to witness the Urbanmech's next move. It leapt forward at a blinding speed and the two Maddogs swung around looking at one another just as the Urbanmech touched down. It twisted its torso to the one mech with missiles and fired its Auto cannon. The shot tore through the head of the mech and triggered an involuntary weapons fire from it.

With speed that most pilots did not think it could achieve, the Urbanmech moved out of harms way. The weapons fire from the Maddog slammed into his counterpart and tore off the left arm. The pilot barely managed to stay on his feet.

Suddenly the Clan wolf mechs were dwindled down to two mechs. Kae turned to assess the situation. The combined forces of two freebirth lances had just decimated her Star. She began to formulate a plan of attack. Seeing as these freebirths were told that they would not receive any combat honors usually given by the victor, she assumed that the same would be returned.

She made a headlong charge at the enemy Timberwolf. Loosing all weapons on the enemy mech her mad charge went astray. The other Timberwolf had merely dodged the shots as they were coming in. Kae brought her mech to a sliding halt and then turned to face her adversary once more.

The Timberwolf walked slowly towards her. Almost like it was taunting her to strike. Kae had a moment's indecision that caused her not to see the Diamond Shark Pixie come blazing at her. It slammed hard into her Timberwolf's legs and almost immediately it crumpled beneath the Seventy-five tons it supported. Her helmet saved her from any serious injury to her head as the mech came crashing to the ground. Over the general airwaves she heard people conversing.

"…was…to…assistance…down" the radio gave out . Her computers started to fluctuate. They were going on and off and on again. What little motion she had from the mech was sluggish. Her forward view was cluttered with dust and debris for what seemed like an eternity. When it cleared all she saw was the enemy Timberwolf hovering over top of her mech.

Her external pickups still worked and she realized that the Enemy was speaking to her.

"This is Captain Hawthorne of the First Rasalhague Regulars. You and your surviving warriors are to hereby surrender your selves to us and submit to your clan Bondsmen ritual. Unlike you we do give out mercy."

Seeing as they had her pinned down, Kae decided to follow their instructions and step out of her mech. She also noticed that her surviving warriors were also exiting their mechs. She muttered a curse as she saw an Inner Sphere dropship coming in for a landing.

Chapter10 

It was a week into the assault on Rasalhague. The enemy forces had destroyed all orbiting satellites or captured them to prevent any out going calls by the Wolf Garrison. Star Colonel Logan was mildly upset at the lack of reinforcements that he would be unable to call in.

The worst news came from the northern front. His most valued warrior Star Commander Kae had been missing for nearly five days. His frequent calls to the Northern Commanders seemed to say that the Rasalhague forces had captured her.

The base she went to still had yet to ask for reinforcements from him. This worried him as well. It seemed that some of the Wolf warriors were lax in their observations. Or this could mean that it had fallen. Either way Logan was beginning to consider the recall of most of his forces to a central location so they could better organize and defend their key installations until such a time as when their usual rotation were to come in to the sector. Assuming as well that the enemy did not have the jump point heavily guarded.

That was a though that he shuddered at. If they did cover it from any incoming jump, there would be no survivors of the wolf forces. They would have no time to react to the assailants. His main concern now was the defense of his planet and how to best fortify his positions.

One of his Galaxy commanders came in with the latest news form the front. It seemed that the majority of the Rasalhague forces were veterans of the clan invasion of their home system. Also there was a rumor circulating that the Republic had fielded enough Clan Battlemechs and Warriors to make themselves look like a fledgling Clan. He looked at their House symbol. He chuckled at the thought that crept into his head. Their symbol was of an Azure Dragon. He could see them being called Clan Azure Dragon or something along those lines.

With a wave of his hand he ushered the Commander out of the room. Those that were gathered in the capitol city had been ordered to attend a Council meeting. He followed the man to the chambers where he was conducting the meeting.

"Greetings my fellow warriors. As you are all aware," He spoke as he entered. Not waiting for any formal gesture to start the meeting, "we have come under attack by the Rasalhague forces. It seems that they are here en mass. The enemy has taken a few key locations along the rivers here." He said as he pointed to the Holovid of the planet's fortifications.

"Now it seems that this sector, our weakest sector, the northern sector will come under fire. Perhaps by a force that will more than out match any of the mechs up in that area. All we have there is a small garrison and Soloma Warriors. I have sent word to them to use the Soloma's as best they can. I hoped they would be smart and drop the more experienced Soloma's into mechs for their final defense. At least it would not be green sibkin in there."

He paused to see the reactions of those gathered here. He knew they thought the same thing as he did when the chips did not fall in to their proper places.

"I will not lie to you. As clansmen we have a sacred duty to uphold all that we believe. We should go out in a blaze of glory. If we do not then our Clansmen will ridicule us. However I have seen enough of this world and the inner sphere to realize," He took in a deep breath, " That we will not survive, at least not if we fight to the bitter end. It is this reason that I have called you all here. My days are dwindling. As my days pass by so do my chances at glory in the line of duty for the clan.

I will be leading a detachment to the northern sector. We have prepared ourselves for a glorious battle. I have three stars that are coming with me, The rest will stay behind and defend the city. I was going to name Star Commander Kae as my successor but that unfortunately will not be happening, thus Galaxy commander Artis. You will take over in my absence and if I fall in combat I hope you will lead the wolves to glory."

With that he walked out of the room and headed to his dropship, ready to defend the world entrusted to him.

Kae looked up from the medical table she was on. The enemy Forces that had captured here were a mix of Clan warriors and Inner Sphere. She recognized none of the clansmen, but knew they were from the Diamond Shark clan some from the Ghost Bear and even a few from the Smoke Jaguar Clan.

Her Bond had been given to a man called Lucius Hawthorne. He and his commander were in the room talking about what to do with her and her two Warriors that had survived.

She found out that the commander of the forces here was a clan warrior Called Leorik. A name that was familiar to her but not a well know name amongst the rest of the clans.

Leorik was speaking now. "Captain Hawthorne, You know that as her bond holder you have the right to do, pretty much, anything that you see fit. Why are you asking me what we should do about them?"

"You'll have to pardon me. I am not from the clans and this whole bondage thing is beyond me." Hawthorne replied. "I mean she was willing to kill herself to take me down, and now she is indebted to me. This is a scenario I did not fathom."

So they were arguing about what they should do with her. Now would be the opportune time to make a break for it. Just then the field doctors stuck her with a needle and she winced in pain, not having expected the assault on her arm.

"Get that thing away from me you dirty freebirth!" She yelled, and quickly pulled her arm back from the doctor.

"Well you have been on Rasalhague for a few years and we don't want you to infect any of our men with any illness you might have contracted. So. If you will not co-operate with us then we will just have to give you this" He pulled out a vial and stuck the needle in. The vial was not labeled.

"What, what is in that?" She asked.

"Well, as per our Fleet commander's orders we are to inject you with cyanide in the purest forms if you are un willing to co-operate." He smiled at her.

Just then Leorik walked over to them and calmly said, "Doctor. Please. Do not use your dry humor on her." He then looked at Kae. "I am Commander Leorik Sennet. I am in command in this area. While you are bonded to Captain Hawthorne, you will submit yourself to my questioning. The doctor here has a drug that will force you to answer if you do not comply with this simple request."

She looked up at him and then realized what was in the syringe that the doctor had in his hands. "You would resort to a truth serum?" She asked. All he did was nod his head.

Captain Hawthorne came and stood beside Leorik. "Just answer his questions and everything will go smoothly."

Leorik looked at Kae, who just nodded her head in response to Hawthorne's request. "Good, now that we have that out of the way. You came form a base in the north quiaff?"

"Aff." Kae responded.

"Then you know how well guarded it is. All I want to know is will they put up much of a fight. I do not wish for numbers, I know you are honor bound not to relinquish that information even under a bonds oath."

"The fight that you seek you will not get from them. I have no qualms in telling you that they are unprepared for any fight. They are too engrossed in their own personal agendas in that base."

Hawthorne looked at Leorik. "It would explain why your men recognized the same unit insignia on their mechs as that drop ship that passed over you yesterday. Why else would they send such a small force to engage us?"

Leorik pondered this for a moment. "Seems like you are correct in your assessment Captain. However there is one more matter for concern. The dropship will surely sound an alarm with that base and all hell, as you put it, will break loose." Leorik paused and looked at Kae. "If Hawthorn released you of your bonds what are your intentions?"

"You want to know if I would kill you or not. I am honor bound to abide by clan laws, even if it is to freebirths or dezgra like you."

Leorik forced his hand to stay at his side. The insult brought up memories of when he was first captured with Eracer. How he fought so hard to make the enemy hate him. He simply turned to Hawthorne and said, "She will be like this until she comes to her senses. We all were when we were captured. If I may suggest. Leave her in holding with her men until she comes to her senses. Meet our command staff and myself in the command tent in one hour. We will be planning our next move."

With that Leorik left the med-tent and went off to see his troops. He saw that the work on the Phoenix Hawk was not coming along as smoothly as they had hoped. The technicians looked like ants swarming over a hive entrance, trying their best to repair the downed mech. The two companies head technicians were going back and forth with their suggestions on what to do with the mech.

Eracer had seen enough of war to know that the Hawk was no good except for scrap parts. Lt. Sorenson, Hawthorne's head technician, disagreed and said that the mech just needed a full repair bay or several weeks of field repairs to fix up.

Leorik had a little chuckle when he heard that comment. Apparently the mech was more valuable to them than his men thought.

His command tent had already started to fill with his Lance Commanders and soon Hawthorne and his men would be piling in. He greeted each of his warriors. He then turned to the front of the tent and began his briefing with his men.

"Greetings. You all are aware that we have captured several decent mechs and some Wolf Warriors. We suffered only one loss in the fray and that was from Captain Hawthorne's command." Just as Leorik said that Hawthorne and his men entered the tent. He nodded to them. "The Phoenix Hawk's condition is still being debated."

He took a long pause to gather his thoughts. "The mission has had mixed success. Overall, command has been pleased with our actions. Captain Hawthorne and I will be managing the operations in this sector. We have the advantage of numbers that the other Companies do not have."

He turned to the white board they had set up. It had a topographic map of the base they were going to hit, and laid out nest to it the important strike zones of the base as well.

"When we go in. the two units will flank the base. This here," He pointed to a radio tower, "Is a primary target." He then looked at his men and not Hawthorne's men. "It needs to be taken out. I know what you all are thinking but remember we are working for the Rasalhague Republic and these are their orders. Once the tower is down we are to hit here, here and here to neutralize our losses."

Leorik continued the briefing for the next forty-five minutes he and his command staff gave reports to their men on the strength of the enemy that they could see. After the briefing Captain Hawthorne approached Leorik.

"Mighty impressive. But tell me this. Doesn't the plan that you are proposing deviate from the goals command laid down for us?" Asked Hawthorne.

Leorik looked Hawthorne down and calmly replied, "Perhaps, however the captain of my dropship made a very good point. This base can serve as our base of operations, it will have salvage that the republic can use plus it puts our non-combatants out of the fight."

Hawthorne put his hand to his chin. He debated the decision in his head and when it became clear to him the plan had merit he nodded. The plan was a risky move but if they were able to pull it off and did it with minimal losses they could then get the Battalion HQ a base of operations that was not on the front lines. The only resistance they saw at this time was the one unit of Mechwarriors that they had encountered and defeated.

1 Tukayyid- a planet in the Free Rasalhague Republic

2 Dropship-A Landing craft that can usually carry 1-2 lances of Battlemechs

3 Lance is a grouping of 2-4 mechs. Or a mixture of mechs and infantry

4 Warhawk is the Clan name for the mech the Inner Sphere calls the Masakari

5 Terminology for people of House Kurita

6 Timberwolf is the Clan name for the mech the Inner Sphere calls the Madcat

7 Myomer Accelerated Signal Circuitry – enhances the speed of the unit


End file.
